Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Water, we can't live without it. We are experiencing drought conditions in Washington State. It's hard to tell this in the city where it seems plentiful and there are no watering restrictions...yet. Though perhaps there should be. This drought condition not only effects farmers, and wild life, but it creates wild fires, something that has become all too familiar in recent summers as temperatures soar.

The drought is more evident out of town, especially in Lake Roosevelt which is way down. We witnessed this first hand last weekend when we took a mini vacation up to Penticton BC, Canada. We like to go there in May to bike the Kettle Valley Rail trail while stopping in at the many wineries that surround Lake Okanogan. It's a pretty sweet get away.

We love to drive along the beautiful Kettle River as it winds it's way north and south across the border. It provides some breath taking views and we have many photos from our journeys along it's banks.

Last summer, in July, we stopped at a state park just north of Kettle Falls where the south fork of the Kettle flows by. There is a large estuary off of this fork which was full in a hot and dry month. As we ate our picnic we heard loud splashing below us and stood up to see very large Dolly Varden trout surfacing, and splashing and rolling in the water, going after surface bugs. It was quite the sight to see so many big fish so close to the surface. There were also lots of birds around and bald eagles swooping at the water. It was like a delightful patch of Eden.

Kettle River Campground July 2014

Fast forward to May of this year when we stopped for lunch at the same spot, hoping to see the fish again. When we got out of the car we looked over the banks and saw this scene which really speaks for itself. I heard one lonely little song bird. The south fork of the kettle was still flowing, but the level was way, way down. In fact so much so, that the dock was high and dry.

Same area high and dry May 2014

You may be wondering how all this relates to Zentangle? Good question.

One of the ways to use Zentangle is to help a person or situation, by keeping the person or situation in mind and setting a good intention while we tangle. So recently, I taught two classes where the tangles I taught related to water in the hopes that such focused energy might bring some much needed rain not only to our area but to where water is needed around the globe.

Mosaic from Zentangle Rain Dance Class

Strangely enough we had a huge thunder and lightning storm last night with a good down pour of rain, so maybe it worked!

I invite you to try it yourself , it can't hurt. So here are the tangles with links and you may find some on your own to try at www.zentanglepatterns.com

This rain sure helped the garden and the early blooming flowers inspired me to do a painting just for my studio to greet visitors as they enter. This is a Zentangle inspired mixed media painting entitled Bloom and is pictured at the top of this post.

This then led to the idea of a Zentangle Mixed Media Workshop; Flower Power; that I will be teaching on Saturday, June 13th at Spokane Art Supply. It's gonna be fun, so you'll want to sign up right away by clicking on the Zentangle classes button and then you can register online via paypal by clicking on the link in the class description and your done and ready to go!!

Other stuff that's happening to watch out for are more free introductory classes through the City and County Library system and I'll be putting up the dates soon.

AND.....I'm teaming up with two other teachers, to bring you , drum roll please....

A Mindful Arts Day featuring SoulCollage®, Zentangle & MandalaI hope that you will continue to practice Zentangle this summer, even just a little bit helps and perhaps join me in a class or workshop too! All the best for a fabulous and not too dry summer!Loretta